Big news from X (formerly Twitter): its AI chatbot Grok is now available for everyone, not just Premium subscribers. But it comes with a few caveats. This new move, which opens up Grok’s features to all U.S. users, comes just as the platform is shaking things up. Along with this, Grok introduces a new image generation tool called Aurora. So, what exactly is going on with Grok, and what can you expect from this shift?
What’s Happening & Why This Matters
Grok, developed by xAI (Elon Musk’s AI venture), is now accessible without a premium subscription. This means all users can interact with Grok’s chatbot, though it’s not a full-blown free-for-all. For free users, there are some limits:
- 10 messages every 2 hours.
- 3 image analyses per day.
Want more? You’ll need to upgrade to X Premium ($8/month) or Premium Plus ($16/month), which offer more features and fewer restrictions. The change, spotted by The Verge, isn’t universally applied yet, with usage limits varying by country, so these specifics mainly apply to U.S. users for now .
xAI, the company behind Grok, is on an upward trajectory. Recently, it secured $6 billion in funding and has big plans for the future, including a standalone app to rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. The Memphis supercomputer, powering Grok, will see a major expansion soon, from 200,000 GPUs to a massive 1 million GPUs. Despite its potential, Grok has faced some serious flak. In its short history, the chatbot has been involved in spreading false news. For instance, it falsely reported that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lost an election before it even occurred. There was also a false claim about Iran hitting Tel Aviv with missiles. As xAI loosens restrictions on Grok, these controversies could add fuel to the fire, especially as the platform continues to grow .
Introducing Aurora: A Photorealistic Image Generator
Grok’s new Aurora image generator is the real star. This tool allows users to generate photorealistic images, mimicking real-world photos with stunning accuracy. For instance, Grok produced images of Donald Trump and celebrities like Ray Romano and Adam Sandler. While the tool has a lot of flexibility, it doesn’t create nude images—yet it’s still drawing attention due to the controversial nature of the content it can generate .
The introduction of Aurora highlights a broader trend in AI-generated images, which is becoming a hot topic globally. In California, laws are tightening around deepfake technology, including AI-generated political images. This could have implications for platforms like X that allow users to easily generate controversial visuals .
TF Summary: What’s Next?
Grok’s new freemium model makes it more accessible than ever, but with limits on usage, the full experience still requires a subscription. With Aurora now generating photo-realistic images, X is entering a new frontier of AI-powered tools. But, the legal battles over deepfakes and misinformation may slow down its global expansion.
As xAI prepares to launch a standalone app, Grok could become a bigger competitor to established players like ChatGPT. We’ll have to wait and see how these new AI tools evolve, especially as regulators catch up with this rapidly advancing technology.
— Text-to-Speech (TTS) provided by gspeech